The Big News: Fear not, Affliction fans. Donald Trump sold back Monday Night Raw to Vince McMahon, and has re-dedicated his efforts to raising awareness of the sold-out Affliction Trilogy event.

Show Analysis:

Raw’s opening package had Donald Trump all over the place. He came out to start the show. He plugged the no commercial gimmick and the full ticket refund gimmick. I wonder if WWE gave the Green Bay fans a refund on the Ticketmaster extortion charges too.

John Cena then made his entrance to enthusiastically shill the WWE gimmicks. He called out Miz. Miz called Cena a coward, so Cena invited him to the ring. Miz again called him a coward, this time to his face. Cena said that he would wrestle Miz in a “main event” match this Sunday. Cena said he doesn’t get rattled and that Sunday Miz will realize he doesn’t belong in the ring with him. He called Miz a WWE never-was. He told Miz to pray he makes it out in one piece. Miz punched Cena in the mouth and ran away. Cena no sold it and laughed. The way this was presented they pretty much have to put over Miz Sunday or he’s buried miles under the ground.

They ran a number of Vince McMahon vignettes throughout the show. In the first, Vince McMahon was apparently given a crappy “backup” limousine because Donald Trump as owner of Raw was in possession of the better limousine. Okay. It was broken down, so Vince demanded a new limo.

Jeff Hardy, Great Khali and Rey Mysterio beat Chris Jericho, Edge and Dolph Ziggler in the non-Raw match of the week. You have to admire their resolve in enforcing the brand split that they were so adamant about at the WWE draft a few weeks ago. This was a weird spot-oriented match.

They did a cool spot where Rey jumped off Khali’s shoulders onto the floor. Jericho gave Khali a code breaker, sort of, and Edge gave Khali a spear. Rey hit an Asai moonsault. Jeff then used the twist of fate and swanton on Dolph for the pin. Punk raised Jeff’s hand after the match but Jeff pushed him away. I really like that program. It’s fresh and intriguing.

Vince McMahon went to what he thought would be his office, but it was Trump’s. Trump said that when he purchased the Raw television show he received an office in Green Bay as part of the deal. Santina was there, and Trump fired her to play off the Miss California thing. Santino showed up and said there must be something he could do, but then went, “Eh, she had a good run.” That appears to be the blow off of the Santina gimmick.

Cody Rhodes beat Primo Colon. Cody worked over Primo. Michael Cole said that Cody is the son of the “All-American” Dusty Rhodes. He’s a wrestling historian, that Michael Cole. Primo came back with elbows. Cody hit a side Russian leg sweep. Primo used a springboard crossbody but Cody rolled through and grabbed the tights for the pin.

Goldust, Hornswoggle and Vince McMahon met backstage. Goldust had Vince try on his wig, saying it worked so well for Goldberg. Vince then discovered his office, which was a toilet stall. Festus was using the stall and reading the Wall Street Journal.

HHH and Randy Orton battled to a draw in a last man standing match. They brawled on the floor, and Orton went after HHH’s knee. Orton attacked HHH with a chair. HHH hit a low blow and went for the pedigree on the announce table but Orton reversed into an RKO on the table. HHH got up at 9. They brawled to the ramp, where HHH gave Orton a spine buster but had a pedigree reversed.

HHH went to hit Orton with a ladder but accidentally hit a crew guy instead. Orton hit HHH with the ladder, put HHH’s leg in the ladder, and stomped on it repeatedly. The referee was counting but Orton stopped the count and went for an RKO off the ladder. HHH sent him away and hit him with the ladder. He then hit a pedigree at the entrance way, but neither man could get up at 10. This was a strong match with a non-finish.

I don’t understand why they even bothered doing this if that was the planned finish. You can get away with non-conclusive TV matches to build up PPV matches, but usually you do that weeks before the PPV match when people aren’t sure where things are going. Here, they announced HHH vs. Orton would be a PPV match, but then said that they would give it away on TV the week of the PPV instead and made a big deal about it. Everyone with a brain is thinking, “They’re going to screw us,” and then they do just that. It’s not the sort of booking that engenders goodwill.

Maryse and Miz met backstage. Maryse reiterated that she wanted to see Miz do something impressive against Cena. She said that one cheap shot doesn’t prove anything.

Donald Trump came out. He promised all sorts of big things. It felt like a ninth grade student council election speech. He said there would be celebrity hosts each week on Raw and commercial free Raws every week. Vince McMahon came out and wasn’t pleased with Trump. He said these moves would make him go bankrupt. Trump said he paid big money for the TV show, so he can do whatever he wants. He added that he could sell Raw at any time and double his money.

Vince offered to buy back Raw for the same amount, then 25 percent more, then 50 and 75 before Trump finally agreed to sell it back at double the price. Vince said Trump was fired, so Trump slapped him. This whole storyline is utterly devoid of logic on so many levels, but at least it’s over now after a whopping one week.

Vince McMahon backstage told Randy Orton that Sunday he will wrestle HHH in a 3 stages of hell match. First will be a wrestling match, then falls count anywhere, then a stretcher match.

Mickie James and the Bella Twins beat Maryse, Rosa Mendes and Beth Phoenix. The heels worked over Brie. Brie tagged Mickie. Mickie came in with clotheslines, dropkicks, a neck breaker, and a kick on Rosa for the pin.

Big Show beat John Cena. Cena went after Show with punches early. Show dropped Cena on the barricade, hit a spear, used a back suplex and stood on Cena. Cena came back with a top rope rocker dropper and five knuckle, but Show cut him off with a choke slam and corner splash. Cena finally applied the FU, but Miz came out. Cena broke the hold to knock him off the apron. Cena lifted Show for the FU but Miz pushed Cena over and Show fell on top of Cena for the pin. This didn’t seem to drag as much as some of Cena and Show’s recent matches, but that’s not saying much.

HHH attacked Orton at the end of the show and slammed the car trunk on Orton’s back. He said that Orton is going to Hell on Sunday.

Final Thoughts:

WWE feels like such a desperate promotion these days, throwing a bunch of different random ideas at the wall every week and then giving up on them and starting over with new ideas the next week. This Donald Trump angle is just the latest example. I don’t know if I’m unique in this, but my interest in the product is eroding at a really fast pace these days.

Todd Martin
ToddMartin4L@aol.com
toddwmartin.blogspot.com